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I forced myself to move. Him calling in the armed officers would see me ejected from the building, and I had to speak to Alex first.
Out of the office, I took a right rather than a left, heading deeper into the palace. I emerged at the base of the sweepingstaircase where the princess had sat last night and waited for me to bring her friend home.
I had no clue what I was doing, only that I didn’t have her number. I definitely didn’t have the clearance to roam the building unchallenged, and even if I did, I had no idea where her apartment or rooms were.
If I accidentally stumbled in on the king, I could be shot.
A man in a suit and carrying a tray stepped from an ornate doorway across the hall. He looked me up and down. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Princess Alexandra’s bodyguard. I need to speak to her.”
He gave a professional smile. “The princess left the grounds half an hour ago. Though clearly without you. Perhaps you should take that up with your manager?”
I muttered thanks, and the man watched me go back the way I’d come. Beaten, I trudged away. I’d missed out and now had to leave without saying goodbye.
Maybe it was for the best. I didn’t belong here. She hadn’t liked my interference. When I got home, I’d talk to Ben about her safety then put this…whatever it was I had going on behind me.
My Inverness flight touched down at four p.m., and I drove straight from the airport to the McRae estate. London was a buzzing city, but there was nothing like coming home to the Scottish mountains I loved.
The peacefulness was a balm over my rough edges.
The open road wound past the glistening loch surrounded by foothills and rolling heathland. Summer was in full bloom, and everything was green, with wee flowers studded in the landscapeand the air clean and clear. Elsewhere, the Highlands would be thick with tourists, but we were tucked away in a remote spot that only locals knew.
It was secluded and private, yet in under an hour, I was nearly home.
With my car windows open, I drove past the two huge stone gateposts that marked the entrance to the estate, Castle McRae ahead of me on the other side of the bridge. I crossed it and swung left, taking the route through the woods and passing the second McRae castle, Braithar, the place I currently called home.
No time for stopping now. I’d already rung ahead to Ben, and when I finally reached the wide-open moor where the aircraft hangar was located, my boss was waiting for me. Leaning against a car, he chatted with another man, my older brother, Gabe, kitted out in a mountain rescue jumpsuit and backpack as if poised to head out onto the hill.
For days, I’d felt like a fish out of water. Being home and seeing familiar faces eased another degree of my tension. I leapt from the car, and Gabe’s attention shifted to me.
As always, he spread out an arm to pull me into a hard hug. “Glad you’re back.”
I hugged him. “Any news?” His wife was due to have their bairn any day. My first niece or nephew.
“Not yet. Effie’s bored out of her mind, but the midwife said another week or two yet.”
“If you’re heading out, tell her I’m here if she needs anything,” I said.
Despite there being almost no snow, the mountain rescue teams were busy, and my older brother flew the rescue helicopter. Summer brought long hours of daylight, and hikers took the opportunity to get lost or injured in the mountains with alarming regularity.
“Ariel’s with her this afternoon,” he referenced our younger sister, “but I’ll take ye up on that this evening if I’m still out.”
Further members of the rescue team exited the hangar, led by Lochinvar, the leader of the mountain rescue service. Gabe saluted us and strode away to join them, leaving me and Ben alone.
My boss, a solid man more than a decade older than me, watched me with a more serious expression.
I matched it. “We need to talk.”
He pushed off the car. “Aye. Let’s take it inside.”
I followed Ben into the hangar. The open frontage gave way to a stunning view of the landscape. Inside, mechanics worked on helicopters, and a collection of studious cadets listened to an instructor in the flight school I’d once attended.
We bypassed it all and entered the bodyguard office, a freestanding structure built at the back.
Ben parked himself behind his desk. I didn’t sit. Unlike with Jared, I trusted my boss with my life and needed to pace to get the words out.
“I sent the news article. Did ye read it?”